ABSTRACT Moral beliefs guide interpersonal behaviour and responses to ethical situations and are an integral element of professionalism in relationship-based social care practice. This qualitative interview-based study focused on identifying the religious and moral beliefs of undergraduate social care students (N = 19) at the Finnish, non-religiously affiliated Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. The participating students’ beliefs are discussed in reference to virtue ethics and efforts to determine positive moral standards for interpersonal relations. The results show that a majority of the students identified as spiritual but not traditionally religious, in accordance with the changing religious landscape in Finland and beyond. However, their moral beliefs were in some respects linked with certain prosocial dimensions of religions; for example, several students stated that they valued the Golden Rule in Christianity. Overall, the students considered benevolence to be the key virtue in character, attitude and action, believing a good person to be someone who respects other people and helps, not harms them. The students’ views are in line with the ethical considerations that recognise social care as a profession that aims to protect and promote human dignity. The implications of this study are discussed in the context of developing future social care professionals’ moral education.